Category Archives: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Lo Phi and I have been working on this one for a hot minute… after some final touches, finalizing of the track list, and a little love from IQ at FrownLand Records, we are proud to finally release Uncanny Valley. This project is a celebration of distorted sounds and distorted thinking coming together to create harmonic resonance… Lo Phi kicks things into the red as he leaves his heart inside the beat machine, while I dug deep into all that’s been going on in my life the last few years to mine it for all of the wisdom, knowledge and wordplay that I could. The album is now available to stream and download on Bandcamp, and will arrive everywhere else by mid-January. Share it around, download it, and leave a few bucks if you can, but most importantly, enjoy!

Over the course of the past year, the homie poolboi blu has been cooking up tons of production, releasing beats, mixes and collaborations steadily from month to month. All of this appears to have been foundation building in preparation for the release of ANTSY, his latest solo project. A handful of these tracks have seen the light of day over the summer, but hearing them as a collective works extremely well. Add to this the fact that poolboi blu is becoming a bit more of a vocalist, and it makes ANTSY a perfect closure for 2018 and an indicator of where things are going for beyond. Don’t sleep on this project, seriously.

Riders Against the Storm (RAS), more so than any other group I am lucky enough to consider a peer, embody a fullness of culture that is sorely lacking in hip-hop today. Not only do they represent where they were born, raised, and currently reside, but they have a keen knowledge of their music and cultural roots across a wide span of eras, even down to the indigenous roots of the rhythm and dress. For Reminisce (Ayuma Remix), the duo teamed up with producer Ayuma to create a trip down memory lane with a driving beat as the tour guide. The lyric video further embraces the influences of each group member individually, as well as (RAS) as a collective, and it hits all the right nostalgia-centered marks. Leave a comment, like the video, and share it around so everyone can enjoy and do the same!

2017 was shaping up to be the year for me. I was coming off of a strong series of releases for about 8 years straight, and my docket for collaboration was starting to grow. One of the ground floor collaborators was the homie Lo Phi, who has always been prolific in my eyes when it came to production. What started as a follow-up EP to Manifest Station, over a period of 2 years, has shaped into a full-length project showing our collaborative growth despite both of us going through some of the most tumultuous periods of our lives. I am proud to announce, finally, that our latest collaboration will be ready for release in January of 2019. The project, Uncanny Valley, is full of wild production and deeply coded lyrics, as demonstrated by the lead single Just To Be Clear. Stay tuned for this release, and many others, in 2019, as many of my former loose ends come to fruition. Give the track a listen, a like, a comment, and share it around for prosperity in 2019!

When I caught wind of the fact that MC Homeless had a handful of Moodie Black-produced beats and was working on an EP, I knew that we were all in for something memorable. Over the past year, MC Homeless was showcasing tracks off the project, but there’s something about finally getting to experience a fully realized creation that not even the arresting nature of live performance can capture. Sex and Death is part examination, part celebration of the trappings that come with the creative spirits. Sex, depression, drugs and death form the four corners of the framework for Sex and Death, and the instantly iconic artwork is pitch perfect. Definitely download and share this one around, and if you can, get a hold of the limited edition vinyl, which is equally dope. Props to Fake Four for putting this one out.

Reality rap is the closest thing to a documentary in the world of music, in my opinion, and Austin is a city that thrives on that aesthetic. Recently, Austin-based MC $.dot and producer Eric Dingus joined forces for the T$O (Trill $hit Only) project, and their whole vibe is all about the realness. In their video for lead single Only The Trill, $.dot talks about the pedigree of people he has in his corner and has aligned himself with, all over a Mobb Deep-esque beat by Eric Dingus. The video looks like a million bucks thanks to the expertise of Super Thing Productions, with smooth tracking shots and artistically framed setups meant to further the written messages. This one is definitely worth your time, so definitely check it out, leave a like and a comment, and share it around.

Collective efforts can add momentum and weight to a project that solo ventures rarely possess. Recently, Evolve secured a group of Moodie Black produced beats, called up a crew of folks with bars, and the result is the brief put powerful Valley Winter Chasing Fire by SHANKS AND CHANDELIERS. The collective is made up of MCs PHreddy Lou Saint Laurel, RORSCHACH THE ANTI HERO, CARMEN CASTILLO A.K.A CARMEN FRIA and MELTER SKELTER, with additional guitars by SERGE DE LEON. There’s a lot to sift through and work with on this one, so definitely take a dive in, share it around, and support monetarily if you can.